Selected Central government officials asked to leave, sent back to their states

The snarls of bureaucracy twist even the simplest of rules. The latest victim is the prime minister's February 1 directive which asked that all senior Central government officials - including those employed with public sector undertakings - on extension of service after retirement or after the completion of their five-year tenure at the Centre, and those re-employed after retirement, should be asked to leave or sent back to their states.

However, by last fortnight, only seven of 13 additional secretaries, nine of 24 joint secretaries and 15 of 42 directors and deputy secretaries were asked to leave. What is more, the top officials of over a dozen public sector undertakings and half a dozen officials working abroad - all affected by the order - were not touched.

In fact it seems as if Mrs Gandhi's fiat was used to get rid of a few top officials who had earned the wrath of politicians and bureaucrats claiming to enjoy the confidence of 1 Safdarjang Road.

Shabby Ousters: In the first phase, Railway Board Chairman Mohinder Singh Gujral and Central Coalfields Managing Director Baldev Wadhera were unceremoniously relieved in a telling commentary on the misuse of the directive.

In fact it seems as if Mrs Gandhi fiat was used to get rid of a few top
officials who had earned the wrath of politicians and bureaucrats
claiming to enjoy the confidence of 1 Safdarjang Road.

Hardly had the dust settled after the Wadhera and Gujral episodes than another official fell: Jagdish Chand, chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), even as he was signing notifications following the 1983-84 budget proposals.

Chand was on extension until July 31, but he was verbally directed by a top Finance Ministry official to go on leave. Chand's sudden departure was mystifying since he had received a nine-month extension quite recently. Instead Insiders claim that he was ousted because of indiscreet income tax raids on some well connected business houses.

While Chand was ousted, other chiefs on extension were still in the saddle. Prominent among them:

V. Krishnamurthy, vice-chairman of Maruti Udyog Limited, who got a year's extension till January 13, 1984. Krishnamurthy staged a come-back despite the fact that he was removed from both Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and later on from the Industry Ministry in controversial circumstances;

G.S. Sahni, chairman, Central Board of Central Excise and Customs who is also on a two-year extension till October 1984:

Takht Ram, the powerful joint chief controller of imports and exports who completed 58 years on May 31, 1981. After securing two-year extension he is due to retire by May 1983. No reasons were given for their continuance despite the directive.

The prime minister's orders were also applied with some discrimination at the additional secretary level. Seven additional secretaries will return to their state cadres by April 30.

Andaman & Nicobar Islands; B.R. Patel, secretary, Union Public Service Commission: S.P. Gugnani and C. Venkatraman of the Commerce Ministry. All had completed more than five years at the Centre.

But over half a dozen other additional secretaries who had come to the Centre before 1978 were not touched:

K. Saigal, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official of the Assam and Meghalaya cadre, and additional secretary in the Oceanography Department, which is looked after by the prime minister herself, is with the Central Government since February 2, 1977;

R.N. Chopra, IAS, from Madhya Pradesh, and additional secretary in the Industrial Development Department, joined the Central Government on October 8, 1976;

P.K. Kathpalia, an IAS official from Punjab, and additional secretary (judicial) also joined the Central Government on January 3, 1975;

R.K. Kaul, an IAS official of the Uttar Pradesh cadre and additional secretary (banking) is on deputation to the Central Government since June 5, 1976;

M. Pancheppa, an Indian Revenue Service official and additional secretary in the Atomic Energy Department under the prime minister, came on deputation to the Central Government on December 13, 1973. He was promoted as additional secretary on March 10, 1978.

The subjective application of the directive has provoked a sense of insecurity among senior bureaucrats. Said a senior official of the Finance Ministry: "We don't mind transfers if these are done irrespective of the people involved.

If we are sure that all of us would have to leave after completing our term we can plan our life accordingly. But when some people are left out it creates a lot of dissatisfaction and unhealthy trends in the bureaucracy."

In fact, the transfer of senior officials is considered to be a punishment because after reversion to their states they find it difficult to get reasonable accommodation and school education for their children.

A senior IAS official who has been transferred to Rajasthan admitted that he will have to pay a monthly rent of Rs 1,000 out of his Rs 2,200 take home salary. In Delhi he has a three-bedroom government accommodation for Rs 300 only.

Mass Shifts: The Government, however, was more even handed when applying the directive at lower levels. It decided to send back all the 22 officials, from joint secretary to under-secretary, who were on extended tenure.

According to a Home Ministry decision, a number of joint secretaries who were given extension beyond April 30, 1983 will now be reverted to their states by the same date.

The transfer of joint secretaries has attracted the most attention: they include V.S. Tripathi of the Prime Minister's Secretariat, who is one of the nine joint secretaries asked to report to their state Government by May 1, although he was on extension until September 1983.

After the ouster of Tripathi - if he is unable to get further extension - along with R. Rajamani. another joint secretary in the prime minister's office, a third phase of shuffles is expected next month.

According to reports, Mrs Gandhi will shift over a dozen secretaries and heads of public sector undertakings. The changes are supposed to ensure efficiency but there is so far no sign of this happening.

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